Qantas operates world’s first flight with zero landfill waste

Qantas has operated what it says is the first-ever commercial flight to produce no landfill waste.

Qantas has operated what it says is the first-ever commercial flight to produce no landfill waste.

The airline says yesterday's flight from Sydney to Adelaide marks the start of its plan to cut 100 million single-use plastics by the end of 2020 and eliminate 75% of its waste by the end of 2021.

All in-flight products on board QF739, which was staffed by cabin crew from the Qantas ‘Green Team’, will be disposed of via compost, reuse or recycling.

Testing

Qantas’ Domestic CEO, Andrew David, said the trial flight was an important milestone for the national carrier’s plan to slash waste.

“In the process of carrying over 50 million people every year, Qantas and Jetstar currently produce an amount of waste equivalent to 80 fully-laden Boeing 747 jumbo jets,” Mr David said.

“We want to give customers the same level of service they currently enjoy, but without the amount of waste that comes with it.”

Mr David said this flight would typically produce 34 kilograms of waste – with the Sydney to Adelaide route producing 150 tonnes of waste annually.

“This flight is about testing our products, refining the waste process and getting feedback from our customers,” he said.

Alternative products

About 1,000 single-use plastic items were substituted with sustainable alternatives or removed altogether from the flight, including individually packaged servings of milk and Vegemite.

Alternative products used during the flight included meal containers made from sugar cane and cutlery made from crop starch, all of which is fully compostable.

At the end of the meal service, Qantas cabin crew collected the items left over for reuse, recycling or composting in multiple waste streams.

Customers used digital boarding passes and electronic bag tags where possible, with staff on hand to make sure any paper passes and tags were disposed of sustainably.

The Qantas lounges at Sydney Airport’s domestic terminal also went ‘green’ for the flight, with multiple waste streams in use.

In its effort to remove 100 million single-use plastic items every year by the end of 2020, Qantas and Jetstar will replace 45 million plastic cups, 30 million cutlery sets, 21 million coffee cups and 4 million headrest covers with sustainable alternatives.

Airlines are legally required to dispose of some materials permanently, such as quarantined food from international flights. Qantas says it will work with suppliers and government to reduce the volume of this waste.

Inspired by the Bowerbird

Qantas’ waste reduction initiative has been called The Bowerbird Project, named after the Australian bird that reuses small plastic items. The name was nominated by a cabin crew member in a staff competition.

The zero-waste flight will be 100% carbon offset. Qantas claims to operate the largest carbon offsetting scheme in the aviation industry, with a passenger offsetting their flight every minute.

Last year, Qantas operated the first biofuel flight between Australia and the United States using biofuel processed from mustard seed, and in 2012 Qantas and Jetstar operated Australia’s first biofuel trial flights.